This archived Twitter chat is from November 2018 and will open in TweetChat. The title of this chat is: Coding 101. Through this chat, participants will: 1. Explore the fundamentals of coding and creation, 2. Discuss ways to use technology to inspire our students to problem solve and think critically and 3.
Share tech tools to help teachers introduce coding. Find great tools and resources to help create lessons that incorporate coding skills.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from November 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Prepare your students to use today's digital tools to help solve tomorrow's problems. Pattern recognition, abstraction, algorithmic thinking, and decomposition are core thinking skills that apply to any subject. Come see how to integrate these components into any content area with Microsoft MakeCode projects and Hacking STEM lessons--hands-on activities that engage students immediately. Participants will: 1. Review the fundamentals of Computational Thinking and how they can be applied across K-12 disciplines; 2. Explore MakeCode and Hacking STEM, two resources that promote Computational Thinking; and 3. Plan for the use of Computational Thinking in the classroom. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

Synth describes itself as a "bite-sized podcasting platform." Use this site to create audio recordings up to 256 seconds in length, then combine those recordings into a podcast. Think of it as similar to a series of Tweets, but in an audio format. To create a recording, select the Podcast link then add the plus sign to create a podcast. Podcasts start in private mode by default, change sharing options after publishing your work. Synth also provides the opportunity for recording video from your webcam and the ability to add a transcription of recordings into the podcast. Invite participants to contribute by sharing the URL, the session code, or use the embed code to embed into your website or blog.

In the Classroom

Before using Synth with your classroom, be sure to practice setting up and sharing podcasts created with this tool. One way to practice is to set up a podcast with teachers in your building or district as a professional development opportunity. Create a "slow chat" discussing ideas for literature, thematic lessons, or professional book talks. Once you are comfortable using Synth with students, create exit tickets for students to reflect, enhance their learning, and discuss the day's lesson. Synth allows students to extend critical thinking by adding web links to recordings. Ask students to share their opinion on any subject and include a web address to support their conclusion. Have students transform learning by embedding a Synth podcast into a multimedia presentation created with a tool like Sway, reviewed here, and create an interactive discussion on the topic. Instead of using your standard pre-assessment materials, replace these with Synth and extend student understanding by sharing their knowledge (or what they would like to learn) as a quick way to gauge what students already know.

This archived Twitter chat is from November 2018 and will open in TweetChat. The title of this chat is: Personalize That Learning! Through this chat, participants will: 1. Define personalized learning and its characteristics 2. Share tech tools that aid in creating a personalized learning environment and 3. Share resources to help with lesson planning which incorporates personalized learning. Find great tools and resources to help create lessons that incorporate personalized learning strategies.

In the Classroom

Find tools and resources to create lessons that incorporate personalized learning. Share this chat with your colleagues looking for sites and information related to personalized learning. Explore the various tools that are shared.

For the Teachers contains an incredible number of lesson ideas, differentiation tips, instructional strategies, and much more for all teachers. Search for specific content using the keyword search or scroll down the home page to find some of the site's most popular content. There is a great deal of useful content on the site to explore, of note is the Reading Skills for Big Kids and Differentiation links. The Reading Skills for Big Kids includes skill-based lesson plans for use with the many included leveled articles. The Differentiation portion of the site provides specific ideas and tools to differentiate content, assessment, and lesson activities and materials.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Be sure to bookmark this site to save as a favorite to find lesson ideas and activities throughout the school year. When planning for a substitute, look through the site to find useful ideas for lessons and planning organizers. There is so much material here to use, consider exploring the site with peers using techniques similar to a book study. Divide the site into sections to discuss at different times of your study. Organize your favorite materials from this site and your other resources using Padlet, reviewed here. Share your Padlet with peers to collaborate and create a useful time for organizing and sharing your favorite teaching materials. Supplement information included on report cards by using a site like Seesaw, reviewed here, to create portfolios for your students to demonstrate progress in reading, math, and other content areas. Include student-created projects based on activities found on For the Teachers.

Do you want to share just a portion of a YouTube video? ytCropper is your solution, no registration required. Enter the URL of the video and select Crop! to begin. Use the handles on the timeline bar to adjust your video stop and start times then select Crop! again. When finished, ytCropper provides a direct link to your shortened video along with an embed code for use in websites or blogs.

In the Classroom

Use ytCropper to highlight specific information from YouTube videos for student use. After creating a shortened clip, encourage students to predict what comes next or use the segment before showing the entire video. Flip your classroom and ask students to use ytCropper to share important information from videos or highlight portions that need further clarification. Using shorter video segments offers many opportunities to use video clips within other online tools. For example, have students change their learning by creating a ThingLink, reviewed here, including a shortened video clip, images, and text to describe the stages of plant growth, introduce a political figure, or provide background for a novel. Ask students to include shorter clips within multimedia projects created using a tool like Adobe Spark, reviewed here, to redefine their learning and understanding.

Do you need inspiration for art and technology-rich STEAM lessons? Take a look at the many ideas on this site created by art teacher Tricia Fuglestad. Lesson topics include ideas based on famous works of art like Edvard Munch's The Scream and Gilbert Stuart's George Washington portrait. Each lesson consists of a link to the blog post describing the lesson, many of these also include a video overview of the activity. Editor's Note: Some links in the lessons go to a paid site to purchase lesson materials such as PowerPoints. The free lesson ideas and suggestions on this site are sufficient for creating and teaching these ideas without having to buy anything additional.

In the Classroom

If you feel that you are strong in the arts but not technology (or the other way around), find a teaching partner that complements your strength and work together to teach lessons from this site. Use ideas from here in your classroom makerspace. Download the browser extension, Surfmark, reviewed here, to add notes and questions as you prepare to teach lessons from this blog. Surfmark offers the ability to collaborate and share with others through the addition of written and audio notes to any web page. Use lesson activities found on this site as a replacement for traditional research projects, book reports, or written reports. Have students use a blogging tool like Edublog, reviewed here to share images and videos of their work from start to finish and to reflect upon learning. Have older students extend learning through the use of Symbaloo Learning Paths, reviewed here. Ask them to research and find additional information on the topic of your lesson and create a learning path for other students to complete. For younger students, create a Symbaloo Learning Path for students to complete as a center activity to complement your STEAM learning activities.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from October 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Empower students to choose how they will meet their learning goals by helping them to focus on building knowledge, understanding, and essential skills. Learning Menus or Choice Boards allow your students to complete equally active, interesting and engaging assignments which demonstrate their comprehension of the presented material. This session will help you learn to create and use differentiated Choice Boards based on Tomlinson's model for differentiation. Participants will: 1. Understand Tomlinson's model for differentiation; 2. Learn about the use of Choice Boards for both instructional and assessment purposes; and 3. Plan for the use of Choice Boards as part of instruction. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from October 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Engage students and deepen content area knowledge using Animoto to create instructional videos. Text, audio, and video provide additional context to content area instruction for your students. Use student-created videos as formative assessment. Brainstorm with others workshop participants on how you and your students can use Animoto in the classroom. Participants will: 1. Learn basic use of Animoto; 2. Explore three different ways to use Animoto in the classroom; and 3. Plan for the use of Animoto in the classroom. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

Do you need some creative writing prompt ideas? Try Emoji Prompts as an excellent way to inspire creativity in you and your students. Start with the provided emoji, then click the "And then..." to add another emoji prompt. Continue adding emojis as long as you like to continue the story.

In the Classroom

Students are very familiar with emojis, so this site is an excellent resource to begin any creative writing activity. Use Emoji Prompts as a quick warm up in writing class by displaying the site on your interactive writing board and adding 2 or 3 emojis for students to use to write a short paragraph; for longer projects add more emojis. Have students share their writing with classmates as a peer editing activity. Have students share completed writing activities on Edublog, reviewed here. Ask them to include the emojis used as the basis of the writing piece and reflect on their writing process and revisions made.

Edji is a collaborative classroom reading tool that offers options for you to interact with text. Use this site to share text, then have readers highlight and add written and audio comments to portions of text. Also, use Edji to allow readers to add comments within pictures, even selecting a specific part of an image to share a response. Create your account to start a new reading using your email or Google account. Use security features to make readings public or private and choose from grade level options. Type or paste text and use options to insert images or PDF's. Create a group for sharing, and Edji provides a URL and code for students to access your work. Use the Heat Vision feature to view the finished product with highlights and comments shared by all readers.

In the Classroom

Be sure to check out the Guide link, at the bottom of the page, on Edji to see lesson ideas and tips for using Edji in the classroom. Create an Edji with an introductory passage for a new unit and share with students. Ask them to highlight, comment, and ask questions about the information and use as a pre-assessment tool. Use Edji to create quick and easy writing prompts and starters - upload an image and ask students to share adjectives and interesting verbs to use in their writing. Use Edji to create peer response tools when sharing student writing.

Make sure your headlines and titles are capitalized correctly with this fantastic tool! Type or paste in your title to convert to the correct capitalization of all words. Even better, this site highlights changes made. Also, hover over each word in the correct title to see a pop-up explanation explaining why each word is or isn't capitalized. Modify the results to meet your needs using Associated Press, Chicago, MLA, or Wikipedia formatting.

In the Classroom

Include this site with your other bookmarks for writing tools. Include a link on your class website and student computers for use at any time. Ask students to use the Title Case Convertor before publishing any of their work. Ask them to take a before and after screenshot and share any changes and why they were made. If you produce a class newsletter, this site is perfect for double-checking the use of correct capitalization. Consider using this site as part of a mini-lesson on creating and writing effective headlines.

This archived Twitter chat is from October 2018 and will open in TweetChat. The title of this chat is - Engage, Enhance, Extend: Creating Authentic Lessons. Through this chat, participants will: 1. Explore the main components of the Triple E Framework, 2. Discuss ways to successfully integrate technology into lessons, and 3. Share resources to leverage authentic engagement in the classroom. Find great tools and resources to integrate technology into your lessons while keeping the focus on learning goals through the understanding of the Triple E Framework.

In the Classroom

Find tools and resources to create authentic lessons that focus on the learning goal and integration of appropriate technology. Share this chat with your colleagues looking for sites and information related to the Triple E Framework and technology integration. Explore the various tools that are shared.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from October 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Good readers take breaks to process what they are reading. Learn to use Microsoft Sway to guide comprehension through the use of research-based strategies. Helping students become aware of reading comprehension strategies allows them to manage their learning and empowers them to read strategically. While teaching students to think about how they read isn't an end to itself, it is a great instructional strategy. This is specifically helpful in a flipped or blended learning model. Join us and learn how to put this into action in your classroom. Participants will: 1. Learn three active reading comprehension strategies; 2. Understand where these strategies fit in the instructional cycle; and 3. Plan for the use of Sway during reading instruction. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

Stay Safe Online offers resources to help keep yourself, others, and your computer safe online. Visit the Resources page to find infographics, videos, logos and graphics and more. Click Stop.Think.Connect in the upper left corner of the menu to take you to page with tips and advice and even more resources. The tips and advice include Safety Tips for Mobile Devices (in many languages), doing a Digitial Spring Cleaning (with a checklist), What LGBTQ Communities Should Know About Online Safety, and many other practical tips about taxes, shopping online, Cyber Trip Adviser, etc. Before doing a task online, double check with Stay Safe Online and fight off the dark side of the web by using good cyber habits!

In the Classroom

Introduce this site or the accompanying pages of Stop.Think.Connect to show students how to navigate the resources. Then, allow pairs or small groups to choose from the tips and advice for further study and exploration. As a substitute for handwritten notes, have students document their learning and understanding by taking notes online with SuperNotecard, reviewed here. SuperNotecard can then be turned into a storyboard and used to create a multimedia digital story for students' siblings, parents, and peers. Show your students how to embed media modifying their work into a true digital story with one of these tools (click on the tool name to access the review): PicLits, Adobe Spark For Education, Plotagon, and My Simpleshow.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from September 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Develop social media savvy in your students using practice spaces focused on digital citizenship, critical thinking, persuasion and communication skills. Explore online and offline strategies and tools to create safe, authentic learning experiences for students in grades 2-12. These strategies can be applied to any content area. As educators, we can prepare every child to be influential by helping them understand how to leverage the power of social media. While students intuitively understand the mechanics of social media platforms, using them in a responsibly purposeful way to build influence is not instinctual and must be taught and practiced. Participants will recognize the cycle of information gathering, processing, and posting; followed by vetting ideas and voice amplification as both a professional use of social media and an experience that learners should have. Participants will: 1. Learn the importance of responsible social media use by students; 2. Understand the purpose of using social media practice spaces as part of regular instruction; and 3. Explore both paper-based and digital practice spaces that can be used with students. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from October 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Transform your classroom activities with interactive images created using Google Draw. Engage students and deepen content area knowledge by adding text, audio, and video to images which bring additional context to your instruction. This strategy can be used across content areas and grade levels. Participants will: 1. Learn how to create an interactive drawing; 2. Identify ways in which interactive drawings can be used to support instruction; and 3. Create an interactive drawing that can be used in class. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from October 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Get inspired by digital writing tools that facilitate the planning and implementation of powerful, engaging lessons in support of literacy standards! Through the exploration of three digital writing tools, understand how these tools can scaffold instruction for each component of the writing process -- prewrite, draft, revise, edit, and publish. Engaged students who understand the writing process produce more successful work. Join us to see how you can improve student organization, collaboration, storytelling, and decision-making within the writing process by using these digital tools. Participants will: 1. Understand ways different digital writing tools can scaffold instruction; 2. Identify ways digital writing can increase student engagement; and 3. Plan for the use of digital writing tools in their classroom to support the different parts of the writing process. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

This archived Twitter chat is from October 2018 and will open in TweetChat. The title of this chat is - Make That MakerSpace! Through this chat, participants will: 1. Define and discuss the basic components of a makerspace 2. Discuss technology integration into makerspaces and 3. Explore digital options to use in your makerspace area. Find great tools and resources to create or expand a makerspace in your classroom or school.

Online Video Converter changes YouTube videos to several different audio and video formats. Paste the URL of the video and choose the format. Audio options include mp3, m4a, wav, and others. Video choices include mp4, mov, wmv, and more. Additional settings include choosing the start and stop times of audio conversions and audio quality options. When ready, click the start button to create your new file. When complete, download to your computer or use the QR code to download directly to a smartphone or tablet.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use this service to back up your videos from YouTube and other sites. Use to download and save videos at home that you wish to show to students, especially if the school or district blocks them. Users must be able to find, copy, and paste the URL of the video to be downloaded. Once the program starts, you will be prompted to save it. If you want to use the video at school, you will need to save it to a USB stick. No registration or login is required. Online Video Convert is primarily a teacher resource. If using with students, discuss appropriate and inappropriate uses of the technology as well as choosing necessary videos.